Raising the Dead
by Orange Bulldog
Summary: Set after the Buffy finale, they all end up back in LA working with the Angel Inc. group, but go to San Fran to stop a vamp invasion. Of course, they meet the Charmed ones there. Please R&R!
1. Back to LA

Disclaimers:

These are obviously not my characters, I'm just borrowing them from Joss Whedon and anyone else who owns them.

If you have issues with people of the same sex loving each other, or live someplace where that's illegal (in which case, consider moving) please move on.

Buffy: takes place after series end so everything that happened in the series happened here.

Angel: begins after episode You're Welcome and there may be differences from canon after that. Specifically that the Illyria plot doesn't exist. Deal with it.

Charmed: differs from canon as of the end of season 5. Leo did not become an elder, he and Piper are still together, and big Chris doesn't exist. Takes place in the time period of season 6.

Rating: PG-13 mostly for some violence

* * *

"When did she die?" Angel asked softly. Cordelia was dead, the latest casualty in the war against evil. Angel suddenly felt very tired. Cordy hadn't even really wanted to fight. She had gotten into it accidentally in high school, and then when Doyle gave her his psychic powers she had lost any choice in the matter.

* * *

"Ah!" Dawn suddenly doubled over in the middle of the street. 

"Dawn, what's wrong?" Buffy picked her sister up and carried her to the curb, ignoring the stares from the Italians at her display of strength, because Dawn weighed at least twenty pounds more than the slight slayer.

Dawn opened her eyes, rubbing her temples.

"Buffy, I…I think I just got a premonition."

"You what? You don't get premonitions." Buffy stated flatly.

"I know, but I did! I saw this girl, she was being attacked by a demon…it was green, with little red bumps on his head. I think it was tonight, it was night time. We have to save her!"

"Dawn, you don't get premonitions!"

"Buffy, I did! You'll see, we'll find her!"

"Okay. Do you know where she's going to be?"  
"No…wait, but she was wearing a uniform….it said Le Bon France on it. You think it was a restaurant?" Dawn asked.

"I guess we can look in the phone book." Her sister agreed skeptically.

They returned to the long-term hotel they were living in and found the phone book.

"Dawn, it's here. How did you know about this restaurant? It's all the way on the other side of Milan." Buffy asked suspiciously.

"I told you, I saw it! I swear! Why would I lie about this?" Dawn whined.

"Fine…well let's go to dinner there, maybe that girl will be there and you can point her out. We can follow her or something, see if this demon appears." Buffy said, still skeptical of her sister but knowing enough to see this out.

After Dawn had taken a large dose of asprin, the girls started out across town and reached Le Bon France around 9. Upon entering, Dawn gasped and grabbed Buffy's arm.

"This is it! That's her! That's what she was wearing!" she hissed in Buffy's direction.

They had as nice a dinner as they could with Dawn staring at the dark-haired girl from her vision the entire time. By the time they finished, it was nearly 11, as it had taken them some time to find the restaurant. It closed at 11, so they went across the street to wait for the girl to come out. They didn't have to wait long. At 11:05 they heard a shriek from the alley. They rushed back to find the girl pinned to a wall by none other than a green demon with red bumps on his head.

"Dawn, I don't know how you knew but damn you were right!" Buffy said as she rushed to distract the demon.

"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size!" she yelled at it.

It turned around and stared at her as if it was confused.

"Okay fine, not your own size but your own strength!" she amended as she attacked the demon with a flying sidekick.

Dawn groaned. "Buffy, that was sad." She turned to the girl. "Come on, let's get inside. Buffy can handle this. What were you doing out here anyway?"

"I was just putting out the trash…what is that thing?" she answered shakily, allowing Dawn to lead her back inside.

"It's…well it's a demon, they're real. Sorry. But don't worry, Buffy will kill it."

Sure enough, momentarily Buffy walked in the door covered in green goo.

"Yuck! I hate it when they don't go poof! Now I have to deal with it." She complained.

"Wasn't he wearing clothes? We can put rocks in his pockets and put him in the river." Dawn suggested. "That always works in the movies."

After assuring the girl, Fiona, that it was safe to walk home after closing up, they carried the demon to the river and tried Dawn's idea, which worked surprisingly well.

"What time is it in London?" Buffy asked as they walked back to the hotel.

"Um…one hour earlier. So 12:30 am. You can't call Giles, he'll be sleeping."

"Hmmm, that would make it only 4:30 in the afternoon in California. I'll call Angel. He knows about premonitions. Cordy got them. He'll know what's up."

Back at the hotel she dialed the number for Angel's office in Wolfram and Hart.

"Hi, Harmony, it's Buffy. Is Angel in? Thanks." She waited while the vampire put her through.

"Angel. It's Buffy. I have a weird question…what do you know about premonitions? Dawn got one tonight and we found it and it came true."

There was silence on the line for a minute.

"Dawn got a premonition? Was it about a demon attack?" he asked.

"Yes, it was. How did you know?"

"Maybe she got it for a reason. You see…Cordy died, about a week ago."

"What? Did she ever wake up from that coma?"

"No. She died without ever waking up. Although somehow she astrally projected herself right before. We thought she woke up and came and helped us solve a case, but then she said goodbye and disappeared from my office right when I got the call about her death." It was the most Angel had spoken to anyone about the seer since her death. Buffy didn't really understand but she could hear the emotion in Angel's voice.

"Oh god Angel…I'm sorry. We'll miss her." Buffy said sincerely.

"Yes, we will. But er… about Dawn. She had been practicing witchcraft, correct?"

"Yeah." Buffy confirmed. "It surprised me but she seems to have a knack for it."

"Well, sometimes witches are given special powers for a reason. It might not have anything to do with Cordy, but it does seem pretty coincidental."

"I guess that means we should come back to California."

"Maybe." Angel returned to his usual taciturn self, not wanting to pressure Buffy but knowing that selfishly he would like her to be closer than Italy.

* * *

"Yeah, so we're going to go back to LA. Work with Angel, I guess. If the Powers that Be chose Dawn, I guess we should go help out again. We've had a nice break from it. Anyway..we were wondering if you guys would want to come too. We've missed the gang. I've missed you, Wills." 

"Well..I know that Kennedy really likes it here in Brazil, but I miss you too. And I miss California. I want to finish school and get a real job, maybe as a programmer or something. I'll talk to her, okay? Have you talked to Xander yet?"

"Yeah. He's going to come back. He was all alone, you know? I know he was liking Africa but he said he wouldn't pass up the chance to join back up with the gang. He was pretty upset about Cordy though…"

"I know, can you believe it? It's horrible. So soon after Anya too." Willow felt sorry for her best friend. He really had a bad track record with women.

* * *

When she got off the phone, Willow walked into their living room where her girlfriend was watching television. 

"What did Buffy have to say?"

"She and Dawn and Xander are moving back to LA. They want us to come." She said bluntly.

Kennedy sat up. "What? Why would they think we'd do that?"

"I want to do it." Willow said.

"Why? I thought you liked Brazil!" Kennedy whined.

"I do…but I miss my friends, Kenn. And I want to finish college, and you should finish high school or get your GED or whatever you'd have to do now."

"Why do I need that? I'm fine without it."

"You can't get a real job without it." Willow pointed out.

"I don't need a real job, I'm a slayer. I fight evil." She said proudly.

"Yeah we've been fighting so much evil at those parties." Willow said sarcastically. "Besides, that's what we'd do in LA. Fight evil."

"I thought you liked the parties." Kennedy started to get defensive.

"I did. But we can't party forever. Honey, I want to go to LA. Are you going to come with me or not?" she put down the ultimatum.

Kennedy was silent for a minute. "Fine. I'll go with you. Happy?" she flounced off to bed, leaving her girlfriend alone in the living room.

Willow sighed. She and Kennedy had been fighting a lot lately. They really didn't have that much in common, except for the evil-fighting, and they hadn't done much of that since leaving the remains of Sunnydale.

By the time she got to bed, Kennedy was asleep or at least pretending to be. Willow crawled into bed on the other side and went to sleep without touching her girlfriend.

* * *

Three weeks later, the last of the core Scoobies was back in LA. 

"Xander!" Willow squealed as she rushed to greet her best friend. "You took forever!"

"Hey, it's harder to get a plane out of Uganda than Rio, okay?" he teased her.

Buffy gave Xander a big hug too. "Hey Buff, easy on the ribs okay? I missed you too, but not that crazy strength." He grinned to show that he really had missed everything about her. "So, where are we staying?"

"For now in Angel's building, until we can find somewhere else." Willow explained.

"Hey, so Buffy said you are gonna go back to school?" he asked.

"Yeah, probably UCLA. I can transfer pretty easily, but I can't start until the summer because the semester already started a month ago. I went and talked to the admissions guy there yesterday. I need three terms to graduate, since I got incompletes that last semester when…I left. Probably better that way, I hadn't really cared about school most of that semester anyway." She explained.

"Is Kennedy going to go there too?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "No. She never graduated high school, she was a senior when she left to come to Sunnydale. She doesn't want to go back or study for her GED or anything."

"Oh, sorry. Seems like a sore subject, didn't mean to bring up anything bad. Oh god I missed you two!" he hugged them again.

* * *

Sorry it's a bit slow to start out, things will pick up more now they're all back together. And don't worry, I'm getting rid of Kennedy soon! 


	2. Breaking up is hard to do

Willow walked into the downstairs lab to find only Fred there, though that wasn't an unusual occurrence.

"Hey Fred, anything I can do for you?"

"You know there always is Willow. What's up, bored or something? I thought you were going to take the day off."

Willow sighed. "I had another fight with Kennedy. I needed to get out of the room." She explained.

"Oh, sorry. If you ever want to talk…." She left the offer on the table. She and Willow were getting to be pretty good friends. Willow was working in the lab until she could go back to school, and the two were both enjoying having a friend who liked science and learning in general as much as they did.

"Yeah, maybe sometime. Thanks Fred. So, what are we working on?" she changed the subject.

They got engrossed in their work, but about twenty minutes later Willow sighed again.

"She's just…so different from me. We really have so little in common. You know I want her to get her GED, but all she wants to do is party and occasionally stake a couple of vamps. I think she thinks I'll support her or something."

"Are you two that serious?" Fred asked, surprised.

"I don't know. It's weird, we got serious so fast in Sunnydale, everything was so intense there. But ever since…sometimes I wonder why we're even together anymore." Willow admitted.

"Do you want to break up with her?" Fred asked gently.

"I don't know! I've never broken up with someone before…Oz broke up with me, and Tara…" she trailed off.

"Are you sure it's not just because she isn't Tara? I'm not saying you should or shouldn't break up with her, I just know she thinks she has to live up to Tara." Fred asked quickly.

Willow groaned. "I know. Really, she brings up Tara more than I do. Whenever we fight especially. She blames any problem on the fact that she can't be Tara. I don't want her to be Tara. But I do want her to be responsible and educated…Even if I'd never met Tara I wouldn't want to date someone who didn't care if they had a high school diploma!"

"Willow, maybe it isn't my place, but it really seems to me, from an outside perspective, that the two of you aren't right for each other. You fight all the time. You are in two completely different places in your lives. I'm sure your relationship was important in Sunnydale, but maybe that's all it was supposed to be." She said gently.

"I know. I know I should break up with her. I just….don't know how to do it."

"I think you should just tell her that. That you don't think you are right for each other anymore, that the relationship is not working now." Fred suggested.

"I don't want to hurt her…"

"Would you have wanted Oz to stay in Sunnydale just so he didn't hurt you? When it was important for him, and also for you, to move on? I think she'd be more hurt if you tried to stay together and you ended up hating each other but staying together because you were used to it." Fred had heard all about Willow's history, and felt sorry for the redhead that she had been through so much pain. And that was just in her relationships.

"Fred, how did you get so smart about relationships? I mean no offense, but I've never heard you talk about you dating someone." Willow asked.

Fred giggled. "Well, I read a lot. I have dated a few people, but I must admit most of my ideas don't come from actual experience, so take it with a grain of salt."

Willow grinned. She was so glad she had come back to LA. Being with her friends again, getting to be friends with Fred…and she knew she never would have had the courage to break up with Kennedy without Fred's help.

* * *

"What do you mean, you are breaking up with me?" Kennedy yelled.

Willow winced. "Exactly what I said. I don't think we are good for each other anymore. We really have nothing in common, except for the fact that we helped defeat the First last year. I'm going to be starting school soon, and you are…not. I need to be with someone who takes the things I care about seriously. The two most important things in my life are magic and school. You don't understand or care about either." Kennedy tried to interrupt her but Willow held up her hand. "Wait. Let me finish. You should be with someone who wants to go out partying with you, instead of wishing she was back in her room fooling around on the computer. Kennedy, this isn't negotiable. I have made up my mind. Now, I'm going to stay here obviously. If you want to stay here I can't stop you, though it might get weird. I know you don't really want to be here anyway so I figured you'd want to leave. Maybe Giles can set you up somewhere, helping train the new slayers. I'm sorry if this is hard on you. I'm going to stay with Xander for now." Willow picked up the last of her bags. She had already moved most of her stuff into his room.

Kennedy stood in the room watching Willow go. Her fists were clenched in anger. Who was Willow to break up with her? "Whatever, who said I'd care?" she yelled after her ex-girlfriend. "I'll find someone who actually wants me!" The slayer stormed out of the room to find something to beat up.

Willow ignored the girl's ranting and walked into Xander's room, flopping onto her bed.

"Didn't go well?" Xander asked.

"How can breaking up with someone ever go well? I mean, not that I've ever been breakup-girl… But she was more mad than sad which made it easier. It reminded me of why I was doing it." Willow's glistening eyes betrayed the fact that she was sad herself.

"Hey, no crying, it's better this way remember? I'm proud of you Wills. I think we need to go out for chocolate ice cream. Let's go get Buffy, okay?"

Willow sniffed and nodded, and they went off for post-breakup ice cream.

Two days later, Willow woke up and found a note slipped under the door. Kennedy had returned to her parents' house.

* * *

Nearly a month after Kennedy's departure, Xander looked at a calendar and realized that Willow's birthday was in a few days. He walked to Buffy's room. The door was open.

"Hey Buff. What are we doing for Willow's birthday? I just realized it's on Saturday."

"Oh yeah, I meant to talk to you about that. Dawn suggested we take her to a gay club. You think she'd like that? She's been mopey-girl since she broke up with Kennedy."

Xander thought for a minute. "I don't know, do you think she wants to date again?"

"She doesn't have to do anything, just dance. We just thought maybe it would be a change."

"Want to surprise her? We haven't had a surprise party in forever." Xander suggested.

* * *

That Saturday night, Willow was sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself. Nobody had even remembered that it was her birthday! Not that they had done much special for her last few birthdays, but at least her friends had remembered it. There was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Fred.

"Hey, Willow, glad you are here! Something's going down, we've got to meet the others right away. Let's go!" she rushed off, not even giving Willow a chance to respond. Willow sighed and ran after her friend.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked once they were in Fred's car.

"Oh I don't know, Angel gave me directions." She handed them to the witch to navigate.

Soon they pulled up in front of what appeared to be a club or a bar. Angel was standing outside.

"Finally!" he said to Fred impatiently as they got out of the car.

"Hey, we got here as soon as we could!" she responded as they walked to the door.

Willow followed them in, but stopped short when she saw all of her friends clustered around a table with a bunch of wrapped presents and a cake.

"Happy Birthday!" they all yelled as soon as they saw her.

Willow grinned. "I knew you didn't all forget!"

Xander walked forward and gave her a big hug. "Yeah, Will, like I'd be able to forget your birthday! I've only known you for what, eighteen of them?"

Willow hugged the rest of her friends. Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Angel, Fred, Spike and even Wesley and Lorne were there. Only one person missing…but she pushed those depressing thoughts to the back of her mind as she looked around.

"What's with the bar guys?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry about that, we didn't really know of any so Fred looked online. I guess we didn't do so great…" Buffy apologized, looking around.

Willow looked around too, trying to figure out what was wrong with the place. She saw mostly older women sitting around, and a few younger ones dancing in a corner. Her eyes widened and she turned bright red as she realized what kind of a bar they were in and why.

"You guys came to a lesbian bar? For me?"

"Well, we thought there would be more hot younger ones…ow!" Xander glared at Buffy who had clearly just kicked him under the table. "For you, of course, not us!"

Willow rolled her eyes. "It's okay Buffy, we all know about his lesbian fantasies. But um, really, it's okay, I don't think I'd be ready to meet someone anyway. I need some time on my own. But so cool that you guys tried! Can I open my presents first or should we have cake?"

"What about the drinks? We're in a bar and you lot aren't even going to drink?" Spike said, taking a swig from his own beer.

"Er…I don't know, I'm not a big drinker…" Willow remembered one of the few times she had been drunk, years ago after Oz had left. It hadn't been much fun. Kennedy had often tried to get her to drink but she hadn't usually. "Oh, what the hell, it's my birthday."

"That's the spirit love!" Spike cheered. "Drinks all around then!"

"Except for Dawn." Buffy reminded her sister.

"I know, I know! I don't want it anyway. Alcohol is gross." Dawn proclaimed.

The party went very well. Willow liked all of her presents and she had fun just being around her friends, until suddenly Dawn grabbed her head.

"Oh not now!" Buffy groaned.

Dawn slumped to the table. Buffy caught her and shook her until she groggily opened her eyes.

"What did you see, li'l bit?" Spike asked.

"Vampires…so many vampires…going to San Francisco. Fighting…" she murmured.

Buffy turned to Angel. "Why would she see something so far away? And vamps? What's so special about vamps that we need a premonition about them?"

"Actually it's odd. There aren't really any vampires in San Francisco. Some old agreement with demons. I don't know why they would be going there." Angel responded.

"Should we go check it out?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"Road trip!" cheered Xander.

"Well, we have the use of the Wolfram and Hart private jet." Angel suggested. "I have to stay here, but you could go with Dawn."

"Hey, if we are going on a private jet we are so going too!" Willow pointed out.

"Me too!" Spike said. "Er, I mean, I could help, you know, ask around, see what the other blokes are up to." He corrected hastily.

"Fine, us four and Spike." Buffy agreed, rolling her eyes at the bleached vampire.

* * *

See? Told you I'd get rid of Kennedy quickly. And don't worry, the Halliwells are coming soon! 


	3. Vampires in San Francisco

Meanwhile in San Francisco:

"Vampires?"

"Yes, vampires. I know we thought we vanquished them with that nest a few years back. But apparently that nest was an oddity, a strange subset of them." Phoebe Halliwell said.

Her sister Piper was on the other end of the phone, at her club. She groaned. "Well keep Paige away from them, okay? We don't want her turning into one again."

"No, we certainly don't, especially this kind, because they have to kill you to turn you. They are human-demon hybrids. It's weird, the info in the Book of Shadows made it seem like they were all over the place. I don't know why we've never seen them before. But I saw lots of them, all meeting up here in San Francisco!" Phoebe insisted.

"Okay, I believe you. We can talk about it when I get home, okay? I'm not working tonight so I'll be home before P3 opens."

* * *

That night, shortly after sunset, the Wolfram and Hart private jet set down on a runway of the San Francisco airport. The landing time had been chosen to keep Spike from combusting in the sun.

"That wasn't as cool as I thought it would be." Xander confessed to Willow while disembarking.

"I know, it was so tiny and bumpy, my tummy is all flippy." The witch agreed.

"Okay, so all of the warm-blooded types are going to the hotel while Spike tries to find out what he can from the underground." Buffy reminded them.

* * *

Spike wandered the streets of San Francisco looking for fellow vampires. He figured if he told them his name was William he'd have a good chance of staying incognito and they'd think he was just another vamp coming for the same reasons they were.

He stopped in front of a seedy looking bar and glanced in. Sure enough, the patrons looked less than human. Most were demons but there was a cluster of his own kind in one corner. He entered the bar.

"Aw man, not another one! What's with all you vamps anyway!" whined the demon bartender. "Go back where you came from!"

Spike ignored him and went over to the group in the corner.

"He always that bigoted or did I do something to piss him off?" He said by way of introduction.

"Demons have had this town to themselves for decades. They're just jealous now that we're coming to take it back." Sneered a large male vamp.

"Oh, is that why we're all here? I heard something was going down, figured I'd come get in on the action." Spike said.

"Welcome then. That's why we're all here too. Word is we're gathering forces, some old vamp named Lertrantius is heading it all up. We meet at his place on Wednesday nights. You should come. Big abandoned house across the street from the Green Ave. cemetery." Said the same vamp, apparently the leader of this gang.

"That right? I just might do that." Spike agreed.

"You want to join up with us? We're going hunting after these drinks." Flirted a young female vampire.

"Nah, that's okay. I'm a loner type, you know? I'm off to find some food myself actually." Spike said, trying to get out of the situation.

"Be sure to turn as many as you can. The more of us we can get the better, even newbies." Said the leader.

"Of course. Well I'll be seeing you. Good hunting tonight." Spike said, leaving the bar and heading off towards the Denny's near the hotel they'd picked as a meeting spot. He opened up his phone to call the others.

* * *

"What do you mean we can't make a potion to kill them?" Piper yelled at the Book of Shadows.

"Piper, honey, yelling at the book isn't going to make it say something different." Her youngest sister Paige pointed out.

"Well, it's ridiculous. They're demons, we vanquish them. With potions." She said crankily.

"It says that we can't use a potion because they are half-human, and dead at that. They can only be killed by decapitation, a stake through the heart, or exposure to direct sunlight. Oh and holy water and crosses burn them." Phoebe read from the vampire page of the Book of Shadows. "So that's all pretty much what I remember from last time. Oh, but this kind doesn't turn into bats, that's a relief."

Piper groaned again. "Can we at least scry for them?" she asked.

"Doesn't say we can't…might as well try, right?" Phoebe said helpfully, handing Piper the map and crystal.

Unfortunately, there were by now so many vampires in the city that scrying was completely useless. The crystal landed as soon as Piper starting swinging it, and it would land practically anywhere in the city.

"How about narrowing it down somehow? Scry for the worst vampire, or something." Paige suggested.

"How about the least evil one?" Phoebe countered. "Make it easy on us."

"Fine. But I don't know how one can be any less evil than any other." She swung the crystal, and it circled for a few moments before landing.

"Corner of 18th and Maple." She read out. "Fine, let's go."

The sisters joined hands and Paige orbed them to a nearby park for safety. They walked a block to the crossroads.

"Hmm. A law firm, a library branch, a gas station, and a Denny's." Paige said, looking around. "Who votes for the Denny's?"

Her sisters looked around, and the other three corners looked pretty deserted, so they went into the Denny's and looked around. There were about thirty people in the restaurant, all looking human.

"How do we tell which is the vamp?" Phoebe whispered.

"I can freeze them and we can feel their temperatures?" Piper suggested.

They looked around for a few minutes more.

"Fine, go ahead." Paige agreed.

Piper flicked her hands and nearly every person in the room froze. In a corner booth a slim redhead jumped out of her seat and looked frantically around. A brunette stood up next to her.

"Willow, what happened? Why are they all freezy?" Dawn asked, waving her hand in front of Buffy's face.

Willow saw the three witches standing in the entryway at the same moment the witches saw them. The sisters started towards their table.

"Thicken!" Willow yelled and put her hand out.

The Charmed Ones found themselves suddenly stopped as if they had hit a wall.

"What the…" Piper started to say.

"They must be witches too, Piper. They must be good if they didn't freeze, right?" said Paige.

"What did you do to my friends?" Willow demanded.

"What did you do to us?" Phoebe retorted.

"Protected us from anything else you might do." Willow snapped.

"We're not going to hurt you. You're clearly a witch. So are we. We're looking for a vampire. Have you seen one?" Piper said.

Willow and Dawn exchanged glances.

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Dawn asked warily.

"Let us go and Piper will unfreeze your friends." Phoebe answered.

Willow looked at her friends. "Fine." She said, waving her hand.

Piper went to their table and waved her hand. The gang abruptly lurched into action where they had been frozen.

"Okay, happy now? We have to find the…"

She stopped short when she saw Spike's face. He had subconsciously realized something was up and vamped out.

"Wait a second, it's HIM? You are protecting a vampire?" she asked incredulously, re-freezing him quickly.

Buffy and Xander were still looking around confused. Willow sighed. "He's a good vampire now. He has a soul…it's a long story. He's here to help us track the vampire leaders."

Buffy yelped. "Will, you can't just go around telling people about vampires!"

"Buffy, look around. They froze the room. Well except for me and Dawn…why is that?" she demanded of the eldest witch.

"My powers don't freeze good witches." She explained simply. "You two are witches, the others aren't."

"Hey, I count as a real witch like you Willow!" Dawn exclaimed. "You think it's cause of those visions?"

"You get visions? So do I." Said Phoebe with a smile to the younger girl. "Hey Piper, shouldn't we unfreeze these people before they lose too much time?"

"Hmm, good point. I think we should talk though…especially about him." She said, indicating Spike with her finger. "Can you orb us all back to the manor?"

"Whoa, what's orbing and where's the manor?" Buffy demanded.

"The manor is our house and orbing is kind of like beaming up, like on Star Trek. It's perfectly safe. Everyone hold hands…oh and someone touch the vampire." Paige answered.

The Scoobies warily held hands and then Willow held Paige's. Suddenly before they knew what was happening they were standing in the foyer of a large house with Paige and Phoebe.

"I'll be right back, I have to go get Piper." And Paige orbed out again.

"Why can't Piper just orb herself back here?" Xander asked.

"Oh, only Paige can orb. She's actually our half-sister. Her father was a white-lighter, they're like angels and they can orb." Phoebe said helpfully, though she only succeeded in confusing him further.

"So what's the deal with this guy?" she said, looking at Spike who was still frozen. "You said he's good now? I guess that explains why we found him from scrying for the least evil vampire in the city…but how is he good? I didn't know vampires could be good. Well I didn't even know what they were until today but still."

"He got his human soul back last year. He's one of only two souled vampires that we know of. The other is back in LA. They fight for good now. I promise, you can unfreeze him. He won't hurt you. He was just telling us what he knew about the vampire plans." Buffy explained.

"Oh, I can't unfreeze him, Piper has to do that. She freezes and blows things up, Paige can move objects around and orb, and I get premonitions. I can also levitate and I do martials arts too." Phoebe tried to explain. "She said she gets premonitions, what's your power?" she asked Willow.

"Um…I don't really know. I just do magic, I can move things around too, and talk into people's minds, and I used to be able to levitate but that was kind of a different circumstance…" she trailed off, remembering the last time she had levitated, when she was high on the black magic after Tara's death.

The attention turned from her anyway when Paige and Piper orbed back into the room.

The Scoobies just stared open-mouthed, but Phoebe acted like it was perfectly normal.

"Hey Piper, they seem pretty sure that the vampire is good now. Apparently he has a human soul now and is working for them."

"With us." Buffy corrected her.

"With them. So you can unfreeze him. He found out what the other vampires are up to." Phoebe finished.

Piper looked unconvinced but waved her hand. He suddenly jerked into motion and looked around him.

"Bloody hell, what is happening?"

"Long story Spike, they froze us and beamed us here, they're witches." Buffy explained.

"Like Red? Why'd they freeze us then?" Spike said as he shook his face back into human form.

"Um. We were looking for vampires. To vanquish them. But don't worry if you are good we won't vanquish you. We understand about demons that aren't actually bad." Phoebe reassured him.

"So Spike, before all that excitement you were telling us about those other vampires, why they are here." Willow reminded him. "They want to know too."

Spike looked around and raised his eyebrows before answering Willow.

"Like I said, before I was FROZEN, they are trying to take it back. It's been a demon town for a long time, it's close to the underworld or something, and vamps have stayed away. But some old vamp named Lertrantius decided to take it from them. So he put out word and they've been coming from all over. They are turning as many humans as they can, and they have meetings every Wednesday night to see how far they are coming. I think the plan eventually is to have it out with the demons, kick them all out. Not a bad plan, if you ask me. This is a nice town, lots of clouds, lots of people to eat…not that I do that sort of thing anymore! No sirree!" he finished as Buffy glared at him for the eating people comment.

"They're going to kick out the demons? Maybe we should let them do it…or not." Paige suggested and then backed out at the look on Piper's face.

"You do not want this to become a vamp town. Just trust me on that. And there isn't even a slayer here, is there?" Buffy asked Willow.

"I don't think so. None of the ones from Sunnydale anyway, and I don't feel any of the new unknown ones."

"A slayer?" Phoebe asked.

"A vampire slayer. You've never heard of them? Boo." Said Buffy. "I'm the slayer, well a slayer." She amended, not used to having other slayers around. "Super-strength, powers, short expiration date, we fight vampires and sometimes other demons."

"Oh. So what are you?" Piper asked Xander.

"Uh, I'm just a human. I help them out a lot though…" he said, feeling yet again boring and useless.

"Oh."

* * *

Whee! Hope you guys liked that installment. Thanks for all the nice reviews!It's a bit hard combining the two universes especially with different vampires. But the shows are just begging to be crossovers! Next installment soon to come! 


	4. Vamp fight

That Wednesday night the entire group went to the chosen house prepared for battle. Grudgingly, because neither group fully understood or trusted the other, they had agreed to work together. Spike prudently decided to stay at the hotel, in case he was needed later to be undercover again.

A huge group of vampires was out in front of the house, so Buffy and the Scoobies charged in as usual, and began chopping them down. The witches watched at first, and were less impressed with the poofing of the vampires than normal people, being used to demons doing essentially the same thing.

"Should we help them?" Phoebe asked. "Wow, did you see that roundhouse Buffy just got in to his head?" the most experienced martial artist of the sisters was clearly impressed by the slayer's abilites.

Piper tested her power on a vamp, blowing him to bits. "Hmm, that seems to work as well." She said smugly, as his bits turned to dust.

"Okay then, we'll go check out the inside if you all have this covered." Phoebe suggested. She and Paige ventured inside the house, which seemed to be deserted, not surprising her as any vamps inside had likely come outside at the sound of the fighting.

Phoebe and Paige peered around the corner before walking around it. They glimpsed a huge vampire that looked even less human than the others. He had no hair and a grisly smile. Unfortunately, he saw them too.

Paige quickly threw a bottle of holy water at the vampire's face, but to her surprise he just laughed as it struck his skin. He had been around for nearly three thousand years, and therefore predated the existence of and fear of Christianity.

"Phoebe! It didn't work! What now?" she hissed at her sister while moving around to stay out of the vamp's reach.

Phoebe looked behind her at the entryway to the mansion. Buffy was fighting a number of vamps trying to get to them to help. She didn't seem happy that the witches had gone off on their own.

"He must be their leader, they said he was a really old and weird kind, so maybe holy water doesn't kill him. Buffy will be here in a minute. Maybe she'll know. I bet a stake still does though." She pulled out the stake she had brought along and got ready as the vampire lunged at her. He grabbed at her neck but she levitated up and kicked his arm out of the way. The vamp somehow managed to look more angry as she came back down and he attacked her again. Phoebe continued to deflect most of his attacks and get in some shots of her own as the fight continued. Her martial arts skills served her well but the vamp was much stronger than her. Finally she got a clear shot and shoved the stake at his heart. Unfortunately, it struck his chest and stopped. He grinned and grabbed the stake. He twisted it in her hands so it was facing her own chest. Her eyes grew wide as he simultaneously shoved it forward and kicked her legs out from under her so she fell on the pointy stick.

One of the vamps eluded Buffy and raced to his master's defense, reaching Paige as Phoebe was fighting with the super vamp. She was distracted by him and didn't see what happened to Phoebe until it was too late.

Paige screamed "Stake!" a split second too late, just as Buffy ran up in time to see Phoebe impaled. She fell limp immediately, the stake having pierced her heart and killed her instantly. Paige stood in shock holding the bloody stake.

"What the hell are you? A Turokan? You've GOT to be kidding me!" Buffy yelled as she came upon the vamp. "I thought we killed you all in Sunnydale!" She attacked the ugly vampire. She pulled a scythe out of it's sheath on her back. "Good thing I was prepared for anything!" she announced.

"A Turokan? Please, do not insult me, I am not a..." he was literally cut off as she swung it around and sliced his head cleanly off before he even really knew what was happening. He disappeared in a poof of dust. She turned to the witchy sisters.

"No! Phoebe!" Paige wailed as she felt safe enough to approach Phoebe.

"Leo!" she screamed. The whitelighter was already there, of course, having felt it the moment that Phoebe was hit, but it was instinct now. Piper ran in as well, and stopped with a look of fear and panic on her face. Leo held his hands out over the hole in Phoebe's chest. No healing energy was flowing from his hands to Phoebe's body. That could only mean one thing, but the witches were not ready to admit that.

"Leo! Fix her! Why can't you fix her?" Paige cried.

"Paige…it's not working. She's gone." He tried to hold back his own tears to stay strong for Paige and Piper.

"No! She can't be gone! Heal her, Leo, heal her!" she sobbed.

"Paige…" he tried to comfort her, but Piper interrupted him.

"We can see, Leo. And I say no. This will not happen again. I refuse to lose another sister. Go upstairs. Find a way. Reverse time. I don't care what we have to do." Piper was strangely calm, considering her sister was lying dead on the floor in front of her.

"Piper…"

"Go."


	5. Dealing with death, Halliwell style

Leo orbed reluctantly out. Perhaps Piper was right, and the elders would understand how important Phoebe was. The Charmed Ones would be destroyed yet again if they allowed the events of the day to remain.

The Scoobies were finishing up with the rest of the vampire army outside. Buffy ran outside to help them finish and keep them from entering the mansion and disturbing the grieving witches. She was especially worried about Willow. She didn't want her to see another woman dead with a hole in her chest.

Paige was still crying, her hands stained with Phoebe's blood. Piper went to her youngest sister and put her arms around her.

"It'll be okay Paige. Leo will find a way. They owe us, and they need us. They need the Charmed Ones. They can't let her stay dead." But she too started crying, betraying her fears that those words were not true.

The sisters stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, holding each other and crying. Finally, Leo returned.

"Leo! What did they say?" Piper asked frantically.

Leo had an odd look on his face. He stared at his wife as if he did not understand what she had asked.

"They said…You were right. They gave me a spell…" he held it uncomfortably in his hands.

The witches jumped up.

"They did! See, I told you! Wait, a spell? I didn't know there was a spell to turn back time." Piper looked confused, but it didn't disguise the happiness on her face.

"No…it's not to turn back time. It's…to raise the dead. Piper, I've heard of this spell. It's very dangerous. I argued with the elders. Even if there was no other way to get Phoebe back…I don't know if we should do the spell."  
"But they said we should, right? They wouldn't have given it to you if they didn't think we should do it." Paige pointed out.

"There's a spell to raise the dead? I thought you said no one could bring back someone once they were dead, Leo." Piper asked in confusion.

"No, I said that white-lighters could not. There are spells. Most are dark magic. But there does seem to be this one. It can be used to bring back someone no matter how they died, but it only seems to work on witches. This is because it destroys the old body of the object before creating a new one, instead of simply fixing the old body. But it's very dangerous and the outcome is highly unpredictable."

"Why is it so dangerous?" Paige asked.

"Before we talk too much, I think we should include the others."

"Why? If it's a spell it will be our responsibility, Leo." Piper pointed out.

"Well, not completely. You see, it takes three witches to perform the spell. You will need Willow, at least."

"What! We've never cast with another witch! How do you know it will work? Talk about unpredictability!"

Leo winced at Piper's outburst.

"I know that, honey. That was part of my opposition to the spell. But the elders insist it is the only way to get Phoebe back, and they seem to be confident that it has a chance of working."

"Well, it can't hurt to talk about it, can it?" Paige tried to be accomodating. "I mean, there isn't a time limit or anything, is there?"

"No. Technically, the person could have been dead for millenia, though the requirements of the spell make that unlikely, since the casters must have a solid image in their mind of the person."

"Well, I don't think we are going to forget what Phoebe looks like Leo. Let's go talk." Paige strode out of the room, leaving the white-lighter and her sister to follow. She walked out of the doorway and turned to the right.

"Ack!" she jumped back as she nearly ran into the entire crowd of Scoobies, who were looking guilty. "Were you listening to us?"

"Well…um, we didn't want to interrupt…we were listening to see when it would be okay to come in…" Buffy tried to come up with a suitable excuse.

"So you know we need to talk to you." Piper stated matter-of-factly.

"Er…yes." Willow said nervously. She had heard the part about her having to cast with the powerful sisters. Even after the slayer spell she still didn't think she could live up to their expectations.

"Can we talk not in there?" Buffy asked.

"Of course. How about our home?" Leo suggested. "Paige and I can orb you." He added as an afterthought.

"What about Phoebe?" Piper asked indignantly. "We can't just leave her here!"

"If we are going to do the spell we can. I told you, it will destroy her old body. And if we're not…" he left the results of that plan of action hanging in the air.

Piper still looked unconvinced, but she grudgingly agreed, and soon the group was seated haphazardly around the Halliwell living room.

"So, if you were listening, you already know that the elders gave Leo a spell that will bring Phoebe back to life and they told him that we should perform it. That we would be Paige, myself, and you, Willow. I'm a little concerned about casting with you because we have never cast with anyone outside our family, but Leo says the spell requires three. It won't be the Power of Three, of course, and we'll have to talk about what major spells you have cast in the past, but you must be very powerful if they are even suggesting it." Willow blushed a little and tried to remind herself that she was a powerful GOOD witch.

"Now, Leo, you were saying that the spell is dangerous and unpredictable. You need to explain before we go any further."

Leo took a deep breath. "My main concern is that it is irreversible. That means that if it goes wrong, we can't simply reverse the spell. Aside from that, it has only been used a few times successfully, though it has been attempted many times."

"What goes wrong?" Paige inquired.

"Usually, the person is not who has been summoned or is very different from their former self. Another problem is that the person cannot deal with their reanimation and kill themselves shortly afterward. He or she may come back horribly disfigured. The list goes on. And frequently the problems are combined. The elders have hope that the three of you are powerful enough for the spell, and it is true that as with most spells the liklihood of disaster is increased when a witch is not powerful enough for the spell."

"How do we know that we are? I mean, none of us has ever done something as drastic as raise the dead, Leo! I mean, talk to them, sure, but raise them? And even that took the power of three when it wasn't a relative!" Paige complained.

"Um…actually I have done something that drastic." Willow said in a small voice, holding up her hand like a schoolgirl.

"What is that? What's as drastic as raising the dead?" Piper wanted to know.

"Er, raising the dead is what I did. Buffy. We raised Buffy. Three years ago."

The people who didn't know this information stared at her.

"You raised her from the dead? How?" Leo asked. "Wait, three years ago? Did you by any chance use the spell that uses the Urn of Osiris?"

"Yes, we did. How did you know? We can't use that spell though, it was the last urn, and it only worked because Buffy died supernaturally." She explained.

"I just put two and two together. The elders told me about that spell as well, and that the urn was last used three years ago and was destroyed. I'm surprised they didn't tell me it was you. That must be why they are so confident in the spell working. Though I must admit, it worries me somewhat, that spell is rather….dark." Leo mused.

"Um, is this spell going to be anything like that? Cause Will, I wasn't too into those snakes, and you just got better and everything…" Xander asked, concerned. That spell had been the catalyst for his best friend's slip into dark magic. He didn't want that happening again.

"No. This spell is pure white magic, unlike that one which is on the dark side. This one can only be used by good witches to raise good witches." Leo clarified. "And there will be no…snakes did you say? No, no snakes."

"Er, I don't have the best track record…are you sure it will work with me?" Willow asked.

"What do you mean by not the best track record?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"Just well, I was addicted to black magic for a while. I used it. And I-I tried to end the world." She admitted.

"You WHAT?" Paige blurted.

"End the world. When Tara died…Tara was my girlfriend…she was..shot, and I had just gotten off the magic for her, and I sort of went nuts. I k-killed the man who shot her, and I would have done much worse if they hadn't stopped me." She hung her head in shame. "But then I studied with a coven in England for a summer, and that helped a lot. I did lots of white magic to counteract the black. And since the slayer spell…well I actually haven't felt the black magic since the slayer spell."

"Slayer spell?" Leo asked.

"Geez, your elders either don't know much or don't tell you much." Buffy commented. "Willow did a spell a few months ago to help combat the First Evil. See there was always only one slayer in the whole world. Well and then there were two, when I died and Xander brought me back, so that's how we got Faith, but then there was still just us. But Will's spell, it gave every girl who was a potential the full powers. And from now on, any new potentials will automatically get their powers when they turn fourteen."  
"It was really powerful." Willow added in. "I can still feel them, all of them all over the world. When a new one wakes I can feel it. It even turned my hair white while I did it. It um…used to turn black when I was on black magic."

Leo, Piper, and Paige looked at each other warily.

"Well, the elders seem to trust that you can do it. And it's not like none of you have ever slid to the dark side." Leo pointed out. "I'll pop up before we do anything and ensure that they know all of that, but for now let's say that it's fine."

"Wait a second!" Piper suddenly shouted. "There's a spell to bring back good witches, and you never TOLD US? They didn't feel like sharing when PRUE died?"

Leo was taken aback. "That is interesting. I wonder why they wouldn't let us use this for her."

"I think I know why." Paige said in a small voice. "It's because of me."

"What?" Piper was confused.

"It's because of me." She repeated. "The only reason they are letting us try this is because they have no other way of getting back the Power of Three, and they need that. But when Prue died…" she trailed off.

"There was another way. You." Piper realized.

"Um, also, you didn't have three powerful witches." Leo pointed out, trying to calm them down.

"We did after we met Paige!" Piper growled. "They could have told us then! But they only care about their precious Power of Three! Not about us!"

Leo winced. He knew all too well that in a way that was true.

"Hey, couldn't we still do it? You said it didn't matter how long they had been dead!" Paige realized.

"How long has she been dead?" Buffy interjected.

"Three years." Piper answered.

"No. You can't do it. It would be too cruel. I was only dead for what, three months? And look at how long it took me to recover." She looked at Willow, letting her know with her eyes that the same was true for Tara. The sad look on her friend's face let her know that she already understood.

"What happened?" Leo asked curiously.

"Earth felt like Hell, after being in…I guess Heaven. I nearly killed myself, like you said those other people did. It was torture. I finally got over it, but it was really hard. After three years…"

"Anyway, we don't even know that it is going to work for Phoebe." Dawn pointed out.

"Piper, we've gotten over Prue's death and she's gotten over it too I'm sure. We can't second-guess the past." Leo spoke softly to his wife.

"I'm still mad at the elders." She said stubbornly.

"Okay, you can be mad. But you need to not be mad long enough to get Phoebe back." He pointed out.

"I guess. Fine, I'm over it." She straightened her shoulders, swinging her hair back over her shoulders in a stubborn move.

"All right then, I'll go check with the elders about that Willow issue while you get the materials together, okay?"

"Fine. We'll see you soon." Piper kissed her husband on the cheek as he orbed up.

* * *

You didn't really think I'd leave Phoebe dead now, did you? 


	6. Raising the dead

By the time Leo returned, the candles were in a circle and lit, the spell ingredients were sitting ready on a small table in front of the circle, and the witches were reading over the spell.

"The elders said that Willow's essence is good. She is very powerful, and having overcome the dark magic seems to have only increased her power. They did suggest she stand in the middle so the two of you have as much influence as possible, just in case something goes wrong."

The women nodded and moved to their positions.

"So it's a go?" Paige asked.

"It's a go. Whenever you are ready." Leo responded.

Paige, Willow, and Piper moved to stand in front of the table. Taking a deep breath together, they focused on the spell. The others stood silently to the side. Dawn, Buffy, and Xander crossed their fingers.

As they said the spell, Piper couldn't help but think about Prue. It wasn't fair that the elders hadn't let them use this spell for her.

Willow, for her part, was thinking about Tara in the back of her mind, as she nearly always did, no matter what she was doing. She felt like she was mourning her girlfriend's loss all over again, having temporarily realized she might be able to bring her back to life.

Luckily for the spell, Paige was only thinking about Phoebe, having never met either Prue or Tara.

At first, nothing happened. Then slowly, in the circle, something started to happen. The witches continued to focus. They stared in amazement as not one but three forms began to appear. As they came into focus, it was clear that something odd had happened.

Three women were standing in the circle, wearing togas reminiscent of the goddess dresses the Charmed Ones had worn last year. Phoebe was in the middle, as planned. But flanking her were Tara and Prue.

Willow's jaw dropped. "Tara! What are you doing here? What happened?"

At the same time Piper gasped. "Prue? But…how can that be?"

The women looked around cautiously.

"It's okay. You can leave the circle. Leo, what happened?" Paige demanded.

"I don't know. Maybe this is one of the dangers? Bringing along extras?" he guessed.

Prue stepped out of the circle. Piper rushed to her.

"Prue! Oh my god, Prue!"

Prue backed up. "Prue? You bring me back from the dead and all you can think about is Prue?"

Meanwhile, Paige moved to Phoebe. "Are you okay? Oh god I hope it worked right. I mean except for the bringing back other people. Oh Phoebe we were so worried about you!"

Phoebe shrunk back. "W-who are y-you? Wh-where am I?"

Tara was still standing in the circle, shaking and looking around wide-eyed. Willow cautiously approached her.

"I can't believe it's really you." She tried to caress Tara's face and tuck her hair behind her ears but Tara moved back, fear in her eyes.

"Oh baby, you are afraid I did black magic to bring you back! No, no, I would not do that. It was an accident, I guess….we were trying to bring Phoebe back, with white magic that the elders told us to use. I guess that doesn't make it much better to you though, you always said we shouldn't mess with life and death…" she trailed off as the girl in front of her continued to stare blankly at her.

Willow walked over to where Xander, Buffy, and Dawn were watching in amazement.

"She..she does't remember me! Or she's mad at me, and really could you blame her? She must have seen all that bad stuff I did…" Willow started crying.

"WHAT! What do you mean you are Phoebe?" Piper shrieked, catching the attention of the Scoobies who had been preoccupied with the appearance of Tara.

Prue flinched. "I just told you. I'm Phoebe. I don't know why I am in Prue's body. Why am I here anyway? What the hell did you do? Why am I here in Prue's body, and who's in mine, and who the hell is that?" she pointed to Tara.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe Prue is in your body?" Piper suggested. They all looked at Phoebe, who backed up a little more and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"N-no…I'm n-not…" she stammered, looking back at the Scoobies.

Willow walked forward. "Tara? Is that you?" she asked softly.

The girl nodded slightly. "I th-think s-so…"

"Tara? Your girlfriend Tara who died?" Piper asked.

Willow nodded. "But that's her body." She said, pointing at Tara's body.

"So Prue must be in Tara's body. They are all mixed up." Piper mused.

"Um, why are they all here in the first place? What did you do? How did you bring us back to life?" Phoebe-in-Prue asked.

"We were trying to bring you back, Phoebe. When you died…I guess the elders care more about the Charmed Ones than they let on. They gave us a spell to do. To bring you back and restore the Power of Three. We don't know why Prue and Tara came back too, or why you are all in the wrong bodies." She tried to explain.

"Hey, but we can fix that!" Paige cut in. "Remember that time I accidentally switched bodies with Phoebe? We can use that potion to get them back in the right bodies!"

"That's a good idea…it might make them feel better to be in the right places." She looked at Prue-in-Tara and Tara-in-Phoebe, who both looked terrified. "Did you write it down?"

"Yeah, it's in the potion notebook, in the kitchen." She rushed out of the room and down the stairs.

"You all okay over there?" Piper adressed the Scoobies, who were just standing in the corner staring at the women in togas.

"Yeah, it's just…Tara.." Buffy tried to explain.

"I know what you mean. Well I guess we should try to switch them back. Let's go downstairs. It shouldn't take too long for Paige to make that potion."

Phoebe-in-Prue and the Scoobies started downstairs. Tara-in-Phoebe and Prue-in-Tara didn't move.

"Tara? Honey, I know it's a lot to deal with but we have to go downstairs to get you in the right body, okay?" Willow said gently. She reached out her hand tentatively towards what looked like Phoebe but her heart told her was Tara. To her surprise, Tara-in-Phoebe actually took it and followed her down the stairs.

"Prue….we have to go too." Prue-in-Tara looked at Piper like she had just suggested they walk into a demon party. It took a full ten minutes to convince her to go downstairs.

* * *

Paige was almost done with the potion.

"Okay Phoebe, remember, you take the powdered toadstool and say who you want to be as you drop it in." She reminded her sister. "I think we said something like 'I want to be me.'"

"Will that fix the other two?" Phoebe-in-Prue asked.

"I think it will just switch you and the girl in your body. But then we can do it again to fix them." Paige said.

"Okay here goes. I want to be me."

Phoebe-in-Prue and Tara-in-Phoebe both went limp and fell to the floor.

"Tara! What did you do to her!" Willow demanded.

"Just wait. This happened before." Paige explained.

Both girls began to stir.

"Did it work?" asked Phoebe as she opened her eyes. She looked down. "I guess it did."

Tara-in-Prue looked down at herself. Willow moved over to the new body that her precious Tara was now in.

"Are you okay? They said we could do it again to get you into your own body. I think you are going to have to do the spell though, because she doesn't seem to be talking." She indicated the girl in Tara's body, who had yet to say anything and was sort of rocking back and forth like someone in a mental institution. "Do you think you can do it?"

"All you have to do is take some of this powdered toadstool and say 'I want to be me,' just like Phoebe did." Paige said encouragingly.

"I th-think I c-can." Tara-in-Prue whispered.

"I know you can." Willow said, and handed her the bowl of toadstool.

"I w-want to b-be me." Tara-in-Prue said softly, and promptly fell over again, along with Prue-in-Tara.

Willow moved to Tara's real body and cradled her head. Tara's eyes fluttered open.

"Willow." She breathed, and closed them again, relaxing into Willow's arms.

Suddenly it fully hit Willow what had happened. Tara was back. Tears of joy streamed down her face as she rocked the blonde woman gently.

Phoebe and Piper were hugging Prue, who was numbly allowing it but not reciprocating.

"I think maybe we should all have a rest." Phoebe announced. "You'd be amazed at how tiring coming back from the dead is." She tried to joke. "Thanks for bringing me back." She said quietly and more seriously.

Piper squeezed her. "I just told them no way was I losing you. I told Leo to find a way." She said tearfully.

"I know." The sisters spent a moment hugging each other.

"Okay, well I'm going to go up to bed. Or…maybe Prue should go to my room…it's the most the same from before…three years ago I mean."

"Good idea. Familiar things will help." Buffy said helpfully, remembering how shocking the few changes in her house had been when she had come back from the dead.

"Okay then. I'll sleep in your room Piper, is Wyatt up there?"

Piper nodded. "I'll come check on him. And Tara, you can sleep in Paige's room."

"Tara, honey, is that okay? Do you want to go take a nap?" Willow asked.

Tara nodded her head sleepily.

Willow and Buffy helped get Tara up the stairs again to Paige's room. Dawn followed, not speaking but not taking her eyes off of the blonde witch.

They helped Tara get into bed and tucked her in but she grabbed Willow's hand. "S-stay?" she asked timidly.

"Of course I'll stay if you want me to." She answered eagerly, slipping into bed to hold her lost love.

Dawn grinned at the picture they made, Willow's right arm wrapped around Tara's shoulder with Tara's head pillowed on Willow's breast.

"We'll be downstairs if you need us, okay Will?" Buffy whispered.

Willow nodded as they left the room and turned out the lights.

* * *

"I can't believe this is really real. That Tara is back again." Dawn said in amazement as they went back downstairs to join the others.

"I know. I wonder why though. And Dawn, you have to remember how hard this must be for her. She was there for a long time." She reminded her sister.

"I know, I know. But she already seems better. Tired, but not like crazy like that Prue does. Or even, even like you were. I mean she knows Willow, and she wanted her to sleep with her. That's gotta be good right?"

"Yeah, it does seem that way." Buffy agreed. "I'm worried about Willow though. I mean she's wanted Tara back for so long, but what if Tara isn't ever the Tara we remember? How's Will going to deal with that?"

"Maybe she won't have to. I mean, you aren't so different. I mean you changed but everyone changes over time right? And you are still you. Tara still seems like herself too." Dawn said, refusing to be pessimistic about Tara's sudden reappearance. "Let's not worry until we have to. Let's be happy that Tara's back."


	7. Waking Up

"She doesn't even seem to know who we are." Piper complained to Leo in the kitchen. "Oh hey guys. How's Tara?" she added as the Summers sisters entered.

"She's good. She wanted Willow to stay with her so she did. How are your sisters?" Buffy asked sympathetically.

"Well Phoebe is fine. She's acting like it was just a really bad injury that Leo healed and now she's better. Which I guess it sort of is. Prue…she isn't responding to us at all." Piper said dejectedly.

"Maybe you could talk to her when she wakes up, Buffy." Xander suggested. "Tell her about how you felt when you came back, tell her that it's okay to feel whatever she's feeling."

"I guess I could. If you think it would help." She offered.

"It can't hurt, can it?" Leo agreed. "Do either of you have any idea why it happened? Prue and Tara I mean?"

"The only thing I can think of is that I had been thinking about Prue before the spell, maybe I kept thinking about her during it. And Willow was thinking about Tara, and it got into the spell somehow. Hasn't something like this ever happened before?" she asked her husband.

"They didn't tell me if it has. Never more than one person has been brought back. But I suppose that it could be that you three were just strong enough to make it happen." He mused.

"Um, Leo, what's going to happen to me?" Paige asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…the original Power of Three is back again. What does that mean for me?"

"Wow, I hadn't thought about that. Do you still have your powers?" he asked.

"Pencil." She commanded, and the pencil on the table orbed to her.

"If you still have your powers then the three of you should still have the Power of Three. Maybe Prue doesn't have hers anymore." He suggested.

They all stood around uncomfortably for a minute.

"I can't do this. I have to do something. I'll start dinner." Piper announced.

"Hon, it's only 3 pm." Her husband pointed out.

"Well I'll have plenty of time then, won't I?" she snapped.

Buffy, Dawn, Paige, and Xander slipped quickly out of the room.

* * *

Willow awoke to find that her right arm was completely numb. She shifted, trying to release the blood flow without disturbing Tara. Tara. Wow. At first she thought it was a dream, until she woke up enough to remember the events of the day.

Tara felt the shift and drifted into consciousness. She opened her eyes to see green ones looking back at her like a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up. My arm was numb…" she tried to explain.

"It's okay."

They just looked into each others' eyes for a long time. Finally Willow broke the contact.

"Tara…I can't believe it's really you. I'm so happy I could burst…but at the same time I feel bad, because it must be horrible for you to be here. I don't know how I brought you back. I didn't mean to!"

Tara thought for a minute.

"Actually, it's not completely horrible. I mean, it was very nice where I was. It was just like Buffy said it was. Except…it wasn't perfect. I felt like something was m-missing. I didn't really know what. But I think…it was you." She said, looking down and letting her hair fall over her eyes. She felt a drop of water hit the top of her head and looked up. "Why are you crying?"

Willow wiped her eyes. "Because…I think about all the horrible things I did when you died…I don't deserve you. And even after that…I dated Kennedy, and almost turned into Warren, and just now I did something wrong in the spell to bring back Phoebe and I brought you back instead! And now I'm having a pity party for myself when god, it's you that needs the support right now!"

Tara snuggled back down. "Honey, yes, the things you did right after I was killed, they were horrible. I won't lie to you. Even where I was, I could feel it. But the other things….I was d-d-dead, baby, it was okay to date someone else. I won't lie and say that I'm not glad that sentence was in the past tense. You d-dated someone else, but you b-broke up?"

"Yes. She was one of the potentials. Her name was Kennedy. We broke up about a month ago. We weren't really that good together, but we were the only lesbians in the house and we were attracted to each other, so…oh and when I said I turned into Warren, it was because of a hex Amy put on me. I felt guilty that I was abandoning you when I kissed Kennedy for the first time, and I started turning into him."

"Wow. Please tell me you don't see Amy any more." Tara didn't really know what to say about the hex or turning into Warren. She was very happy to know that Willow was single, so she focused on that.

"Definitely not. That was why the hex; she was mad at me for refusing to see her way back when I was getting clean for … for you. I haven't seen her since that day. I hope I don't ever again."

"And…you are still c-clean, right? That spell, the one that brought us back, it wasn't b-black magic?"

"Oh no! It was white white white! The other witches, they're the Charmed Ones. Very powerful good witches. They wouldn't dream of doing black magic. The spell was to bring back Phoebe, because they have some special power if all three of them are together but it was lost when she died. So they were allowed to do the spell. Somehow it had the side effect of you and Prue, that was their older sister, she died three years ago, coming back to life too. Anyway, I'm totally white magic girl now. I do magic, but I'm careful, very careful, and I never do anything remotely black. Occasionally it tries to surface when I do spells but it's less and less, especially after the slayer spell."

"The slayer spell?" Tara interrupted.

"Yeah…it was so nifty! It was to give all of the potentials the power of the slayer, to help us fight the First Evil. So now, instead of having one slayer, every girl who was a potential became a slayer that day. And from now on, any girl who has the potential will become a full slayer on her fourteenth birthday. Isn't that cool? But I did the spell. I got the power from this slayer ax they found. It was such pure magic Tara…it reminded me of you. It even turned my hair white. Temporarily, of course, just like the black was…" she trailed off, remembering why her hair had been black.  
Tara chose to ignore the troubling comment about black hair and focus on the good parts. "Wow, so Buffy isn't the only one anymore, huh? I bet that is great for her."  
"Oh it is! She can live a normal life now. I mean, her life will probably always have fighting in it, as will all of the slayers, but it can be more too."

They were silent for a few minutes, both still enjoying just holding the other.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Willow asked, letting blond hair slip through her fingers.

"Actually…I'm kind of h-hungry. Do you think we could go find some food?"

"Of course! Piper's a great cook. Maybe she made dinner."


	8. Serious Scooby talk

After dinner, which Prue did not wake up for, the Scoobies went back to their hotel, leaving the four Halliwells alone in their house. Phoebe was kind enough to lend Tara some of her clothes so that she didn't have to go around San Francisco in a toga. She found the loosest clothes she had, but still Tara felt strange. They'd have to go shopping soon. When they reached the hotel, Buffy suggested that Willow take a shower, because she wanted to talk to Tara alone. Willow thankfully took the hint, and Buffy and Tara went to Buffy's and Dawn's room. Dawn also took the hint and went to Willow and Xander's room.

"Finally, I was beginning to worry about...Tara?" Spike was waiting in Buffy's room but his eyes bugged out when he saw the blonde witch. "Bloody hell!"

"Spike! God, I'm sorry, we forgot you were waiting here. We took out the vamps, but um, it's a long story."

"I can see that, since Willow's bird is here, when she is supposed to be all dead and buried."

Buffy winced at Spike's bluntness. "Spike, I need to talk to Tara."

"Okay, I can see when a bloke's not wanted. I'll go find a bar to get a drink, I'm starving. Hey Tara...glad you're back. Always liked you." He turned on his heel and left.

Tara stared at the door for a minute before sitting gingerly on one of the beds. She was feeling more weird now, around everyone. She had barely spoken since she and Willow had come downstairs after their nap, having trouble being around people that weren't Willow. She stared at Buffy, still in shock that she was back.

"Tara…so how are you feeling?" Buffy asked tentatively.

"It's…it's weird. I mean you know, r-right?"

"Yeah, I do. I remember how weird it was. How different it was…how much I hated it here. And I was…gone a lot less time than you. Tara, it's okay to feel weird. It's okay to hate it. It's okay to be mad. But just know, I don't know why it happened, but Willow didn't mean to bring you back. When we found out about the spell, Piper wanted to bring Prue back, but I told her it wasn't fair to someone who'd been dead for three years. Willow agreed with me. I could see her wishing that she could bring you back, but knowing that it wouldn't be fair to you. Then they did the spell, and somehow you two came back anyway. I'm sure she's really torn right now. I mean, she's wanted this for almost two years.."

Tara just sat listening, until Buffy trailed off.

"I'm not mad." She said softly.

"Oh. Okay. Well good, I guess. What are you feeling?" she asked.

Tara thought for a long time.

"I think…I think I'm h-happy that it happened. It wasn't…the same for me. As what you said it was for you, I mean. It was soft, and happy, but there was …something missing. Something was wrong." She paused. Buffy could tell she wasn't finished so she waited.

"Do you…believe in s-soulmates, Buffy?" Tara finally asked, so softly that Buffy might not have heard it if she wasn't a slayer. The question surprised her.

"I don't know. You mean like one person you are supposed to be with?"

Tara nodded.

"I don't know." Buffy repeated. "Do you?"

"I didn't, really. Before. But…I think that was what I was missing. Willow. She was supposed to be there with me, and she wasn't. Even Heaven wasn't, well, heaven without her. Does that make any sense?" she asked the slayer.

Buffy thought hard before answering. "Have you told her this?" she finally said.

Tara shook her head. "Not exactly. I know that she had another g-girlfriend. She told me. I don't want to freak her out or anything. Maybe she doesn't feel the s-same." She hugged her knees and hung her head, letting her hair fall into her face.

"Yes, she had another girlfriend. But honestly Tara, it was weird. It wasn't like with you. And I'm not just saying that, okay? I mean, even when she was with Kennedy she was still always thinking about you. And Kennedy was about as opposite of you as could be. Willow broke up with her about a month ago. She just knew she wasn't the one for her. Kennedy had a complex about you, she was always afraid that Willow wanted you instead. I'm sure she still thinks that's why she broke up with her. And she really might not have been that far off. I mean Will was trying to come to terms with the fact that you were gone and that you'd want her to be happy, but it was really hard."

Tara thought about that.

"Buffy, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Tara, you don't even have to ask that."

"W-what did she do when I d-died? I know it was bad, but I want to know."

Buffy was shocked. "Are you sure? I mean right now?"

"I'm sure."

"Please though, she's changed, okay, so keep that in mind. And think about what she was going through, not that it excuses it at all."

Tara nodded.

Buffy took a deep breath. "Well, the first thing she did was try to bring you back. To make a god bring you back or something, but she wouldn't. So then she freaked out and went to the Magic Box and drained all of the black magic books. I mean drained. The words were gone, Tara. Her eyes and her hair were totally black. It was really scary. Then she came to the hospital where I was and pulled the bullet out of my chest. Warren shot me too. Well it was me he was shooting at. I'm so sorry that he hit you too…." She trailed off.

"So it was Warren?" Tara asked quietly.

"Oh. Yes, I forgot you wouldn't know that either. Yes. So then she tracked down Warren. We tried to stop her, but she…killed him. She tried to kill Andrew and Jonathon too, but we managed to stop her. We fought. She would have won, but Giles came from England with massive good magic from some coven to try and save her, but for some reason she decided to end the world. I still don't know how he did it, but Xander got through to her. He told her some story about when they were kids. Somehow that broke through the black magic and she collapsed back to regular Willow. She spent the summer in England trying to learn how to control her magic, and last year was rough. She was convinced if she did a spell of any power the black magic would come through."

"She told me about the slayer spell." Tara added.

"Did she? It was incredible. You would have been so proud of her. She was terrified, but she really came through. It's nice not to be the only Chosen one anymore."

"Is anything else really different?" Tara asked.

Buffy thought. "Well, Faith is good now. Oh and so is Spike. No I mean it, he got his soul back, and no we aren't sleeping together anymore even with that." She said, seeing the look on Tara's face when she mentioned the blonde vampire who to be fair had seemed about the same as always just a few minutes ago. She decided not to go into Spike's brief ghostliness. "Oh, and…Anya died. In the fight against the First when Will did the spell. And Sunnydale was blown up. I mean completely. We live in LA for now, with Angel and the gang. And Giles is back in England trying to re-make the council only good." Buffy said, stopping when she realized she was freaking her friend out.

"Wow. I um…I think I need to sleep again." Tara said, overwhelmed with the changes in the past year in her friends' lives. She had actually felt like she had known that Anya was dead, though now she could not remember how or why she knew it.

"Okay. Willow and Xander's room is next door, do you want to sleep there?"

Tara nodded.

* * *

Willow opened the door to Tara and immediately hugged her. 

Tara hugged her back, enjoying the feel of Willow's body against hers.

"Oh hey Tara, um we can go to Buffy's if you two want…" Xander offered.

"No, no, you're fine guys." Willow reassured him, pulling back from the embrace but keeping one hand on Tara's waist, as if to reassure herself that she was real. "Are you tired, do you want to take a shower, or we could watch TV, or do you want me to leave you alone?" Willow asked as Tara started to look overwhelmed at her suggestions.

"Um, maybe … a shower sounds nice." She said tentatively.

"Okay!" Willow said, just a little too enthusiastically.

"Well I'm gonna go back to my room anyway." Said Dawn somewhat shyly. "Hey Tara…." The blonde woman who had been close to a mother figure turned her head to look at her, and Dawn's eyes started misting. "I'm glad you're back. I missed you." She said simply.

Tara walked the few steps to the younger girl and gently hugged her. "I know, Dawnie." She said, the words sounding odd to her ears but the motion feeling right.

Dawn hugged her back before leaving the room without another word.

Xander sat pensively on his bed, watching Dawn leave. "We all missed you Tara. Oh not the same as Will, I know, but as hard as this is for you we're all glad to have you back." He stood up and strode out of the room, clearly trying to get out before he started crying.

Tara stood somewhat in shock in the middle of the floor.

"You never did realize how much a part of the gang you were. I know it was really hard on Dawn when…well you know when. You were – are – like a mom to her." Willow said quietly, trying not to cry herself.

"Oh goddess, and after her real mom and then Buffy had already died so soon before…that must have been so awful for her. Poor Dawnie!" Tara realized, sitting down on the bed in shock.

Willow moved closer, sitting next to Tara and wrapping her slender arm around Tara's shoulders. "See, that's exactly why everyone loves you so much. Even now you still think about others first." She lifted her hand to gently caress Tara's hair. Tara turned her head and their eyes met. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment and then both leaned slightly forward until their lips met. It was a brief but electrifying kiss.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Willow started to protest, but Tara put her finger over the redhead's lips.

"Don't. I wanted that just as much as you. Maybe more." She hesitated. "I know that a lot of time has passed, and we've both ch-changed. And I think whatever we do we should go slowly. But Willow…I still love you. I can't see myself ever not loving you." She admitted.

Willow blushed slightly but held Tara's gaze. "I still love you too. I tried to move on, I really did. I knew you'd want me to, and that you'd want me to be happy…but I just couldn't." she started to cry despite her best efforts. Tara stroked her soft red hair as Willow laid her head on her shoulder. They sat like that, comforting each other, for some time. Finally Willow picked her head up, kissed Tara lightly on the lips, and stood, helping Tara to her feet as well.

"It's getting late. Why don't you take a shower, everything's in there, and I'll go tell Xander he can come back. If that's okay with you?"

Tara nodded. "As long as I get to sleep with you I'm happy."

"Of course you get to sleep with me!" Willow grinned. Sleeping with her Tara again. Finally.

"Oh, um, let me find you something to sleep in, tomorrow we can go get you some clothes okay?" Willow rummaged around in her suitcase and pulled out a pair of boxers and a tshirt. "Er…do you want to borrow underwear?" she blushed.

Tara blushed too but nodded slowly. "I didn't want to ask Ph-Phoebe for that."

Willow pulled a pair out, ensuring that they weren't too embarrassing before handing them to her girlfriend.

"Aw, ducks. Cute." Tara commented, taking all of the clothing from Willow. "I'll be out soon." She disappeared into the bathroom.

Willow watched her leave and waited until she heard the shower before going next door to find Xander.

* * *

Sorry that took so long! The ends of stories are always the hardest to write, and I'm pretty busy at work right now, so updates might take awhile.


	9. Prue

Meanwhile, at the Halliwell household things weren't going as well. Prue was still upstairs in Phoebe's room. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo were sitting in the kitchen in silence. The dishes were done, the kitchen was spotless, and they had run out of things to occupy themselves.

"Er…maybe one of you should go check on her?" Paige suggested timidly.

Piper and Phoebe exchanged glances. "Not it!" Phoebe said childishly.

Piper rolled her eyes but got up from the table. She walked wordlessly out of the room and up the stairs. Not wanting to disturb Prue if she was still asleep she cracked the door and peered in.

Prue was standing in front of the mirror, not moving a muscle. She appeared to be looking herself over. She didn't move as Piper entered the room and softly closed the door behind her.

Piper walked over to the mirror and looked at her older sister over her shoulder.

"After everything we've been through, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this." She said quietly.

Prue met her eyes in the mirror before turning to face her sister.

"Piper." She said slowly, feeling the word roll off her tongue.

Piper's eyes widened as she heard Prue's voice for the first time in three years. "Yes, Prue, it's me. I grew up some, huh?" she smiled before getting serious. "Prue, Buffy said that…this is probably really hard on you. That you were in a better place, and that you probably don't want to be here. I just wanted to say….I'm here if you want to talk, or not. So is Phoebe. She's grown up a lot in the past three years too. A lot of things have changed…we can talk about most of them later, when you're feeling up to it. But most importantly I guess, is Paige. She's our half-sister, two years younger than Phoebe."

Prue's eyes widened at this news but she didn't speak.

"Yeah I know, weird huh? Mom had an affair with her white-lighter and they gave the baby away. But we found her, and we made the Power of Three again. So we've spent the past three years with her. It was weird at first, but now we don't really think about it. Well anyway, she's downstairs with Leo and Phoebe, I thought I should tell you about her first. There's some food left over from dinner if you're hungry." She was interrupted by the sound of a baby crying. Prue's eyebrows raised in question.

"Oh…and I had a baby. A boy, if you can believe it. Grams couldn't…his name's Wyatt, he's Leo's of course." Piper grinned, thinking about her son. Prue smiled for the first time that day. "Go. I'll be downstairs." She said slowly.

Piper smiled back at her before leaving to see what Wyatt needed.

* * *

Prue slowly walked down the stairs. It was so weird being back here. Piper was telling her about things that had changed while she was…dead, but her former life seemed like a dream anyway. Actually, so did her afterlife. She felt like she already knew some of these things in a way. Grams and her Mom must have told her about them in a way. Prue shook her head, getting more confused the more she thought about it. She walked into the kitchen. Three heads swiveled to see her enter.

"Prue! You're awake! Great. We left some food for you, want me to heat it up?" Phoebe asked eagerly.

"Okay." Prue said. She didn't notice how her sister's eyes lit up at the sound of her voice.

Leo stood and gently hugged the oldest Halliwell. "It's good to have you back Prue."

Prue looked past him to the third member of the room who she didn't know. Their eyes met.

"I'm Paige….I'm, uh…" she hesitated, unsure if she should tell Prue who she was.

"Our half-sister. Piper told me." She said without emotion.

"Er, yeah. That's me!" Paige confirmed.

The microwave beeped and Phoebe returned to the table with a plate of food for Prue. She stared at it for a minute as if she wasn't sure what to do, but she finally picked up a fork and started eating. Her sisters and Leo just sat in silence watching her.

"It's been three years?" she asked once she was satisfied.

"Oh! Yes. Close to it." Phoebe said. "Time…is different…was different for you?" she asked.

Prue nodded. "It wasn't really relevant. You just…are."

At that moment Piper walked into the kitchen, carrying Wyatt. "I thought you might like to meet your nephew." She said softly.

Prue stared at the little boy. "He's adorable…sis." She said, hesitating before pronouncing the familial title. "Um…I'm sorry, but I'm really tired, do you think I could go back to bed?" she was overwhelmed with all of the people around her.

"Oh, sure! You can sleep in my room, I can bunk with Paige." Phoebe offered.

Prue managed a smile as she stood up. "Thanks Phoebe. Goodnight."


	10. Reality sets in

The next morning, the Scooby clan, minus Spike who was sleeping, returned to the manor as planned. They found the Halliwells eating breakfast.

"Hey guys, there's coffee in the kitchen. Leaded and not, in honor of Prue." Piper said warmly, smiling at her older sister.

"Thanks. So we thought we should go shopping today, since Tara doesn't have any clothes. We didn't know what Prue's situation was…" Buffy trailed off. Prue looked better than last night, sure, but she still looked pretty shook up. She was holding a cup of coffee between her palms, one knee up on the chair.

"Oh…probably a good idea. She could do okay with our clothes, and we kept a lot of hers anyway…" Phoebe explained.

Prue cracked a smile. "You always did like my clothes better. And it's okay to say it, you know. I do know that I died."

Piper winced slightly. "I know, Prue…it's just that it was hard enough for me to talk about it before yesterday, and with you standing there…well it just seems silly to say it."

The rest of the group nodded their agreement.

Willow cleared her throat. "Also, we're going to have to figure out the er…legal type things. I can hack into some places on the web and see what I can do…but there's lots of things we thought about last night. We decided it would be easiest just to erase the evidence of their…deaths." She forced herself to say the word. "We can figure something out to explain where they've been. And we'll have to come up with a way to explain things to anyone who knew them personally. Tara…shouldn't be that hard. The only people I could think of were the people in LA who we can tell the truth to, and your, um, family. But we didn't know about Prue."

"Whoa, Wills, calm down, breathe." Xander told his best friend. She was going into nerd babble mode and the Halliwells looked a little overwhelmed.

"We don't have to tell them." Tara said quietly, looking at Willow.

"Who?"

"My family." She said quietly. "Did they even come to my f-funeral?"

Willow looked at Buffy before quietly shaking her head no.

"It's okay, I didn't think they would have. So we don't have to worry about them." Willow grasped Tara's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

The Halliwells looked horrified that this girl's family wouldn't even have come to her funeral. Piper decided to change the topic.

"Well, it shouldn't be that bad for us either, we can tell Morris…he'll be so happy. I can't think of anyone else that we'll need to worry about."

"Can you really make it seem like we never died?" Prue asked, interested.

Willow paused. "I'll see what I can do. The police records shouldn't be much trouble, I've hacked into the Sunnydale ones loads of times, and San Fran shouldn't be much worse…maybe some newspaper records…insurance, drivers licences, stuff like that. Tara's college records…oh, and what about cemeteries? The uh, Sunnydale one is obviously blown to bits, but you'll have to get rid of the headstone here…."

"She was actually buried in a mausoleum…." Piper trailed off. "But I guess we can get rid of the plaque."

The group sat in silence for a minute. "Wow." Tara murmured.

"Oh don't worry, I know that sounds tough but it shouldn't be. And I know, it's not exactly legal, but the legal system wouldn't know what to do with you two. So, uh, want to go clothes shopping?" Willow smiled brightly.

* * *

"Hey Prue, why don't we go sit out on that bench and wait for them to finish?" Buffy asked tentatively. They were in a small store that sold clothes more Tara's style than Prue's. Prue looked at her sisters, who shrugged, so she followed Buffy aimiably out into the main part of the mall.

"Listen, I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now, but I just wanted to say I know what you're going through."

"How exactly is that?"

"Well, almost three years ago, I died. Three months after that my friends raised me from the dead."

"So, you think you know what I'm going through because you had sort of a similar experience."

"Pretty much, yes."

"What do you think I'm going through?" Prue said crabbily.

"I don't know all about metal physics or whatever, but I figure you guys were in the same place I was. And it was nice, okay? All warm, and soft, no fighting. I always knew I was going to die young, and going to heaven was like my reward. Then all of a sudden bam I'm back here and it's like hell compared to where I was."

Prue had gotten temporarily confused by Buffy's bungled attempt at the word metaphysics, but she got back on track.

"So basically, you wanted to stay dead."

"Um, yeah."

"Well, I didn't always think I was going to die young. Even after we got our powers, it was scary, but I thought I could protect myself and my sisters. Well, it turns out I couldn't protect myself, and they didn't need protecting anyway. I had a good life here, even with the demon attacks. I didn't want to die and I didn't want to stay dead. So you don't know anything about me." Prue got up and walked away.

Buffy sat in amazement for a moment. It had never occurred to her that her experience had been different because she was the slayer. But neither Prue or Tara seemed to be too upset that they had been yanked out of heaven. Prue clearly had other issues, but maybe that wasn't one of them. The slayer sighed, feeling as though she'd just lost her one way of helping her friends in this situation.

* * *

Xander and Leo opted out on the mall trip, so they spent the day watching Wyatt and doing what they could to bring Prue and Tara back to life: stealing the plaque and creepy empty coffin from the mauseleum, visiting Morris and explaining the saga to him, calling Wolfram and Hart to tell Angel and the gang, and making extensive lists of everything they could think of that might need altering by the hacker.

Shopping for two women who didn't own anything took nearly the whole day. Prue had calmed down by the time Buffy and the others had caught up with her, but she was still acting strangely. Willow and Tara spent most of the time holding hands, as if they were afraid to let go of each other. Finally, exhausted and carrying pounds of clothing, the group returned to the Manor. They found Leo and Xander laughing and comparing stories of repair projects from demon attacks.

"Hey, don't knock yourselves out working." Piper teased her husband.

"As if you had no fun at the mall." He teased right back.

Willow grinned at the joking as she opened up her laptop. Tara sat down next to her, content to just sit in the presence of her girlfriend as she started the process of making her exist again. It was strange, Tara thought. Already she felt as if it had just been a dream, that she had never left her friends.

Prue wasn't doing as well. She sat gingerly down on the couch, trying to block out the noise around her as the day started to catch up with her.

Phoebe watched her older sister, still half amazed that she was there, but worried about her state of mind. Suddenly she had a brainstorm.

"Paige, Piper, kitchen." She stood up with a grin on her face.


	11. Loose ends

"Cross now the great divide." The sisters finished calling for their grandmother.

"Hello dears. I think I know why you called me. Where is she?"

"Downstairs." Piper answered.

"How's she doing? If there's anyone who should be able to deal with this it's you girls."

"She's okay, considering what Buffy told us about how hard it is."

"I don't know how accurate that was anyway, Tara seems pretty fine." Paige put in.

"Buffy? Tara? Who are these people?" Grams asked, looking from granddaughter to granddaughter.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Come on. We'll catch you up on the way down."

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When they arrived downstairs, Prue had moved to the kitchen, where she was curled up in a chair, nursing a cup of coffee with a vacant look in her eyes. The Scoobies were gathered in the living room, but the witches passed them by.

Prue looked up as her family entered the room. Her eyes widened when she saw her grandmother.

"Grams? Don't tell me they brought you back to life too."

Grams laughed. "Oh no, this is just temporary like we've done before." She gave her younger three granddaughters a look and they quickly slipped out of the kitchen.

"This must be quite a shock." She said quietly as she sat down across from the frail-looking Prue.

"A shock is finding out Mom had an affair and I have another sister. Coming back from being dead for three years is insane." She said bluntly.

"I know it must seem difficult now, but this is your destiny, just as dying three years ago was your destiny."

"Grams, no offense but no matter what happens that is your answer." Prue said almost acidly.

"That is true, I suppose. But it doesn't change the truth of it."

Prue sat silently for a minute.

"How am i supposed to just pick up where I left off? I mean, Willow's going to fix some of that I guess, but I don't have a job, I have nowhere to live, my sisters don't need me anymore..."

"I don't know what it is Willow is going to fix, but I'm sure you can find a job when you are ready, and your sisters will find space for you. Of course they learned how to deal without you, but that doesn't mean they don't need or want you here."

Prue put down the empty coffee cup and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Honey, how much can you remember from being dead?"

"Not a lot, actually. And the longer I'm here the fuzzier it gets." She admitted.

"I suspected that. Is that the problem? Piper tells me there's a girl here who said coming back from the dead was like going to hell."

Prue shook her head. "No, it's not like that, for me anyway. It's just, I don't fit in anymore. I was always the big sister, I took care of them. And now look, Piper's the big sister, and a mom, and they have a new sister I don't even know."

"You feel like they've replaced you."

"No! Well, maybe. A little."

"Oh Prue." Piper walked in from where she'd shamefully been listening. "We could never replace you. We love Paige of course, but she's not you. And come on, I could never be a big sister like you can." She grinned through watery eyes.

"Paige even has my powers." She continued, barely acknowledging Piper's confession, though the sentiment did sink in.

"Well, not exactly. She has telekinesis but she does it differently. Since she's half white-lighter she orbs things around. And she doesn't have astral projection." Piper explained.

"Am I still a witch?" she asked, turning to Grams.

"I honestly have no idea."

Prue waved her hand almost aimlessly at a cup sitting on the table, and it went flying into the opposite wall, causing all three women to jump as it shattered.

Piper raised her eyebrows. "Guess so."

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Willow stretched. "Okay, that's the last of it for Prue. And that nice Inspector Morris said he shredded the hard copy of the police investigation. I made it look like she was in a coma in a hospital for three years. I figured that'd be the easiest for her so she doesn't have to explain to people where she was those years. But um, you guys might want to stay away from Mercy Hospital in Berkley just in case." She said to the Halliwells. After Grams' visit ended a few hours ago, Prue seemed happier. She had spent almost an hour testing out her powers, which would have annoyed her sisters were they not still so happy to have her back.

"A coma, okay. I can deal with that." She said.

"And mine too?" Tara asked from her position on the couch next to her girlfriend.

Willow nodded and smiled at her. "You were easier since the hard copies are gone anyway. I corrected your records at school so that you finished that semester, since I already had to go there to delete the reason for withdrawl. And I enrolled you at UCLA with me. So you can start in the fall and we'll graduate together."

Tara smiled. "What grades did you give me?" she teased.

"Oh, I looked at your midterm grades and went by that." Willow said completely seriously. "Which were of course good."

Piper raised her eyebrows, Buffy shook her head, and Tara just grinned. Sure her girlfriend was a bit strange, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"What? I was trying to be realistic." The witch protested.

"Honey, you were hacking in to change the record so it looked like I hadn't died. I think realism went out the window a long time ago." Tara pointed out.

Willow was distracted from being pouty by Dawn's sudden grab at her head. Buffy caught her sister as she began shaking.

"What's wrong with her?" Piper asked, alarmed.

"Vision." Willow answered shortly.

"Wow. Glad mine aren't like that." Phoebe said, watching as the teenager stopped shaking and opened her eyes.

"What is it, what did you see?"

"Angel...poofed...LA, we have to go back now." She mumbled before passing out.

"Poofed? Like staked?" Xander asked.

"Not if I can help it. Let's go get Spike, we have to get back."

"I can orb you there." Paige offered.

"Thanks. I guess this is goodbye for now." The slayer looked at their new friends.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other." Piper said as the gang gathered around Paige and disappeared into a shimmer of blue lights.

* * *

That's all for now folks! I may write a sequel about the four sisters but no great ideas for that have struck me, so don't hold your breath. Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! 


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